Popcorn is one of the favorite snack foods of the American people. This is because it is inexpensive, easy to prepare and contains relatively few calories. It is also a reasonably healthy food and quite tasty.
In recent years numerous electric popcorn poppers have been marketed some of which use the principle of heated air rather than heating the corn in a pan-like popper containing edible oil. Popcorn poppers have also been designed for use in microwave ovens. All of these poppers provide a convenient and fast method of popping corn, but no popcorn popper has ever been designed which will completely pop each and every kernel. Some popcorn poppers leave a relatively high percentage of unpopped kernels. Most people who enjoy a popcorn snack do not care to eat the unpopped kernels since they are quite hard. Also, popcorn is sometimes mixed with a syrup-like substance and formed into popcorn balls. When popcorn balls are made, it is highly desirable not to have any unpopped kernels which can, on occasion, chip a tooth of an unsuspecting eater.
The unpopped kernels can, of course, be separated from the popped corn by placing it in a large pan, box or other container and then shaking the container. Normally, most of the unpopped kernels will fall to the bottom of the container and the popped corn can be poured off the top leaving most of the unpopped kernels in the bottom of the container. This is not completely satisfactory since it does require a rather large container, and when the popped corn is poured off, frequently a few unpopped kernels find their way back into the popped corn.
There is therefore a need for an easy and inexpensive way of quickly separating popped corn from the unpopped kernels. Such an article should also be attractive, easy to store and easy to clean.